


Puddles

by MetasActReon



Series: Hi-Jinx AU [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alice/Bendy is referenced, Autistic Grant Cohen, Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine) Backstory, Bendy is really just a cute little kid, Cartoon memories, Comfort, Depression, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Gags, Good Guy Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine), Joey Drew being a Jerk, Joey's not a full on jerk, Neglect, Nightmares, Not extremely apparent, POV Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine), Tags will be added with each chapter, Toys, Wally franks is good, Wally is Boris, at least not all the time - Freeform, but definitely some minute neglect, but it is here, but there, childish bendy, ink food, ink food is bleh, innocent bendy, just a real sweetie, just taking care of a sad bean, not a very big thing here, not romantic comfort, not severe neglect, on model bendy, perfect bendy, that needs some kindness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-01-15 01:55:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 16,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18488908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetasActReon/pseuds/MetasActReon
Summary: Cartoons were changing. Black and white animation was just barely starting its fade into the background and soon children around the nation, those who could afford to see cartoons, were going to be finding their beloved characters reinvented in color! However, some companies refused to go the route everyone else planned. They dared to amaze their audience through... other methods. One of these companies decided that it would bring their cartoons to life, quite literally! Despite what would be considered impossible, they found a way, bringing their star to the real world. But... The company closed years later, never having shown their miracle to the public despite their grand success. What could have led this studio to its ruin? Follow the story of Joey Drew Studio's very own darling demon to find out....Monsters are not born… They are made.





	1. Prologue - New Life

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, I want to thank https://www.wattpad.com/user/snowfox24 for being my beta reader and helping me out with ideas and wording. She is absolutely amazing and without her this work would probably be trapped in the WIP pile that glares at me from the corner of my mind, haunting me as I work on new ideas never to return...  
> This story has a lot of work done for it already and has 17 chapters planned at the moment. This number will grow as ideas pop up and I figure out stories to help flesh out things between certain chapters. Of these chapters, 5 are still in the beginning stages, the others being postable. The 6 first chapters are in fact finished and I plan to post them once a week, starting probably next Monday.
> 
> And, remember... **Monsters are not born… They are made.**

_Where am I?_

   He blinked and rubbed at his head, trying to make sense of everything. Things were so very detailed and what was with these new... shades? A whine escaped the being as he pressed his back against hard metal.

   “Bendy?” a sound came from the right, making the being snap his face to the side. A... A creature? of tall warped proportions—it had such a tiny head for being so tall—stood there with a book and... a cane? It was... off. The handle, the shade—

_What is with the shades of this place?!_

   The being stood up and began backing away, sliding across the metal thing behind himself, pie cut eyes glancing this way and that. There were symbols painted on the ground, a– His eyes stopped on a cutout of a cartoon demon, smiling a big smile.

_That looks right!_

   The being smiled at it, a perfect mirror image of the cutout from across the room.

   “That’s you,” the tall creature of multiple shades and overdone details with the book and wrong cane stated, closer than it had been before.

   The being jumped and stumbled, falling down. He scooted away from the creature that was so very wrong, the creature that didn’t look like anything it should be... but it looked like it fit in these warped and strange surroundings. The being grabbed at his head.

_This hurts. Why are things wrong?_

   His eyes widened as he noticed his arm, dripping black. He squeaked in alarm, trying to wipe the black liquid away... just for his hand to slip through his arm, the entire freshly severed arm turning black and splashing down as a glob of dark liquid. He squeaked again, now reaching for the creature, desperate for its help.

. . .

   Joey Drew scowled as the thing destabilized and fell into a puddle of itself. “What went wrong this time!?” he demanded to no one in particular. Placing his cane against the machine, he looked at the book’s instructions. Was the circle miswritten? He scanned the pentagram and huffed. It looked perfect.

   He sighed. “Let’s try again. Maybe I mispronounced the incantation?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my very own BATIM AU where **Dreams Come True** and _innocence... is the greatest loss of all._  
>  This story is an AU and is the backstory to a crossover I am working on, which will be revealed when it becomes apparent. As of now, the universe this is set in is only effecting what I decided to change from what is already canon in BATIM only. (Looking forward to more lore from BATDR, but it will have little to no effect on this series.) I look forward to your reactions throughout this story and hope you enjoy your stay.
> 
> If you have questions, comments, or just want to tell me things but feel they may not be appropriate here or would rather them be more private or anonymous, feel free to message or ask me things at my tumblr! http://metasactreon.tumblr.com
> 
> Comments show me that you believe! That you believe this work is enriching your life little by little! That you believe this story can be great! That you believe in my abilities to deliver on that greatness! You want more? Then show me that you **believe.**


	2. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, _our_ monster is revealed... via a childish drawing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I believe there is something special in all of us. With true inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are!"  
>  _Great words, coming from someone like Joey Drew._

   “Well, turn it off, damn it!”

   Bendy stared at the door to Joey's office. He heard a crash, some muffled—but clearly angry—words, and then a hapless intern ran out, recorder in hand. “Sorry, mistah’ Drew,” he yelled, knowing better than to stay in Joey’s presence when he was like this.

   The demon peeked into the office to see Joey rubbing his temples as he sat down at his desk. Bendy shifted nervously, knowing how scary Joey gets, before putting on his biggest smile and heading over to the agitated man. Despite how scary Joey was, the little demon felt a bit more... real in the man's presence, and hoped that his own presence would help out Joey since he was mad at someone besides Bendy.

   The toon skipped around the desk and placed a hand on Joey's knee, looking up at him with his big signature grin.

   Joey opened his eyes and groaned. “What do you want now?”

   Bendy held out a sheet of paper, his smile getting even bigger. Joey took it and looked at the drawing done in ink. It had the choppy disfigured style of a first grader, with limbs like sticks and bulbous circles for bodies and heads, but the labeling made it clear that it was of Joey and Bendy holding hands.

   Joey looked up from the paper and fixed the toon with a cold glare. “What is this? For a thing made from art, this is absolute garbage.”

   Bendy's smile dropped immediately into an open mouthed frown. “Ih-eh, uh, I-I jus’, I, uh,” he stuttered, stepping away from Joey. He could feel his ink beginning to destabilize and hoped that it wasn’t noticeable. Joey never reacted well to seeing him go runny.

   Joey crumpled up the paper and dropped it in a nearby waste basket. “Don’t waste my time, go prepare the ink machine for another test tonight!” Joey demanded, his voice much louder than it had to be.

  Bendy frantically nodded his head before dashing out of the room much like the intern had before him. After running for a good couple of minutes, the darling demon stopped to catch his breath.

   Garbage. That picture he worked so hard on... _garbage._

    He sank against the wall, inky tears dripping down his face. Instead of making Joey happy, he just made him angrier than before. He rubbed the ink from his face, not wanting to be too much of a baby, Joey didn't like it when he cried too much. He sat there, hugging himself for a while, glad no one was nearby to press him for what happened. Bendy didn't care for talking that much. He didn’t have much to say, after all. He was around a measly three months old and most of those first two months were spent stuck in a room with only Joey sometimes for company, and the toon definitely didn't want to talk about disappointing his creator... again.

   A bubbling noise pulled him out of his thoughts, enticing him to look over at a puddle of ink that sat stagnant nearby. Shivering slightly, he stood up to investigate. The few bubbles in it slowly popped out of existence until it was a still expanse of shiny black. Bendy looked at his reflection, taking note of the slightly grey stained cheeks from his crying. He focused, reabsorbing the darker ink so that his cheeks were once again their usual pristine white. With a small smile, he relaxed a bit. Things weren’t so bad, after all.

   His reflection glared at him. Bendy jumped at the sudden change of expression before rubbing at his eyes. He looked back at his reflection just to find it as he would expect, looking at him in mirrored surprise. He watched it, a haunting feeling creeping over him, the idea that the ink was staring back seeping into his mind. Bendy took a few cautious steps back form the ink before dashing away.

_Ink machine, just, go prep the ink machine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh? You thought this story was of how Joey made a living demon? No! This is the story of the living toon demon he made! The prologue was just to help set the mood of things to come. From now on, we'll mostly be following Bendy, the darling devil himself, and what he experiences as the studio's best kept secret! Why, it wouldn't be appropriate to just come out with a world changing discovery when you still haven't been able to duplicate your results, now would it?
> 
> We love comments! If you want, you can even address a question to this Bendy (who I call Benvo outside of the story itself) and he'll be happy to answer! *holds up the smiling 2' 4" toon demon*


	3. What Comes out at Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everyone's gone home from work, there is still one being who stays amongst the pipes and the ink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really proud of this chapter and have been tempted to just post it early just to get it out, but I resisted. There is a chance you will be getting a double post week soon and don't want them to be too common until I am sure that I won't get caught up to where I am at on postable in order chapters. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! (Critique is welcome.)

   The pipes quietly gurgled and moaned at night, after everyone left the studio. The ink machine slowly turned out ink, clanking loudly where it was, but barely heard by the time the sounds reached this room. The lights were all out except for a night light plugged into the wall not far from an almost comically shaking hammock.

   Bendy lay curled in his hammock, blanket tightly wrapped around him, arm tucked around a Bendy doll that Joey had let him keep. (It was considered unfit for sale due to a small splash of ink having stained it’s bow and lower edge of its face.) This small toon was the source of the hammock’s shaking.

   Bendy was sure the pipes hadn’t been this loud before, but they were this loud last night as well... weren’t they? He hated night time. Being so alone let his mind wander and imagine, and things that he’d imagine weren’t always so nice. Being so alone made the pipes sound louder, like monsters were crawling through the pipes. Wet, gloppy monsters that lurched and lerked. Monsters that seeped and oozed, with tendrils and fangs. Creatures that could grow or shrink, whose forms were fluid and capable of reaching anywhere, no matter where you hid.

   The lone toon wanted Joey, or Chad the intern, or that blonde haired biddy, or anyone really. He’d even settle for the tall scary dark creep that worked on the projectors. The studio was just so unnerving alone.

   Bendy peeked out of the hammock and froze. Everything was pitch black, he couldn't see a thing. Light, he needed light. Swallowing down his racing fear, steeling his nerves, Bendy slipped out of the hammock, feeling his way to the door to find the light switch. His chest was heaving, cold breaths rasping out from his teeth, his heartbeat thundered in his head, slowly drowning out the sounds of the pipes, shifting and gurgling, creaking and settling.

   His hand located the light switch and he flipped it on as quickly as possible, relief washing over him in a wave. Turning around bravely to confirm his belief that his fear of the dark was unfounded, that it was all his imagination; Bendy's gaze landed upon a black figure towering above him, ink dripping from where it’s mouth should be.

   His back thudded against the door, eyes wide, mouth open. The thing, the monster, reached out to him, the unending stench of ink turning rancid, burning his eyes since it couldn't attack any nostrils. Bendy did the only thing he could do, shield his eyes from the horror in front of him. An all encompassing force engulfed him, squeezing and lifting. He squeaked in fear, kicking and thrashing and–

**_SLAM!_ **

   Bendy blinked, his head rolling across the floor dizzyingly. The main light was off, the pipes were quieter, his night light on.  _ What happened? _

   The demon willed his body to find it’s head and heard the fumbling of said body reaching around. A gloved hand poked him in the eye painfully before grabbing him by the horn and setting him back on his non-existent neck. The demon looked around, taking in the dim surroundings. His hammock was twisted tightly, ink dripping from it, and a splat on the ground made him nervous to approach his bed. His pillow and blanket were in a heap, touching the splat.

_    Did I fall out? ... That was just a dream? _

   The toon finally inched his way over to his sleeping corner and carefully grabbed the blanket. It was smudged up, a bit sticky, but still usable. Bendy untangled his hammock and placed his pillow back on it. He located his Bendy doll, and froze. In the dim light, it was clear its face was gone, covered by ink. Bendy plopped down, crying. He had ruined it. Now he really was alone for the night.

   “Ihm sowwy,” he whispered to the inked plush. “I di’t mehn ta, ihm sowwy...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter I need to do a shout out to AO3's ProbablytherealDeaththeKid, who helped me make this chapter as great as it is. She beta-ed and helped me reword this nightmare so that it would come off even more emotional and dream like. Check her out here, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablytherealDeaththeKid  
> Let's also do another shoutout to wattpad's Snowfox24 for being my main beta reader for this work and keeps my muse happy and satisfied so that I am unlikely to abandon this series. Check them out here, https://www.wattpad.com/user/snowfox24  
> Comments are appreciated. Even if they are simply just a punctuation point. It lets me know that you are still reading and makes me wonder at what you are thinking.


	4. The Night Janitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unrest settles upon the darling demon one night, and the studio is not entirely empty. A lone worker is still there, cleaning up ink, a beacon against the nightmares Bendy experiences when alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lame title is lame. -_-
> 
> Woo! Finally! Wally is in the work! Hope ya'll enjoy Wally being Wally. (My beta reader, Snowfox, said I nailed Wally here, so I hope you folks enjoy it as much as you would one of Wally's audio logs.)

   Bendy watched the man cleaning up all of the ink in front of Joey’s office. The guy wore all kinds of rubber protective gear and muttered a bit, but mostly he worked and he whistled Bendy’s favorite tune, the one he often whistled in the cartoons.

_    Why is he still here? It’s... like midnight? Even Sammy’s gone home already. _

   Slowly, Bendy made his way towards the man, freezing as the man leaned back against the wall and wiped his forehead, the ink smearing on his face not standing out very much due to his dark skin.

   “Bendy?” Wally asked, spotting the nervous toon.

   Bendy nodded, not daring to move any other way as he hugged his doll to himself.

   “Shouldn’t you be sleepin’ or somethin’?”

   Bendy glanced away sheepishly.

   “Heh, can’t sleep? The studio freaking you out?”

   The demon looked up at him in surprise before nodding.

   “Can’t blame ya. This place don’t feel right alone. I tell ya, if it weren’t for the fact Joey offered me some good overtime to clean up his area, I’d be outta here,” Wally stated animatedly. Bendy couldn’t help but smile. “But I can always use some extra cash so, here I am. If ya want, you can stick around too.”

   Bendy nodded and opted to get closer to Wally. Wally smiled and grabbed up his mop again. “Ugh, with how much these pipes get repaired you’d think they’d start holding up a bit better but naw, it only seems that they are gettin’ worse.” Wally shook his head. “I’ve got an idea, why not just convert a huge room into a tank for alla this ink. We don’t need it pumpin’ though every foot of this place. I tell ya, if Joey just came to me more often for ideas, everyone’s jobs would be a lot easier.” Wally clicked his tongue. “Stand back, don’t know what this stuff may do to ya,” he muttered, grabbing up a jug and pouring it over a particularly ornery spot of drying ink.

   Bendy decided to hang out closer to the wall, wincing at the strong smell of acetone lofted up from the liquid.

   “Alrighty, let’s get this stain outta here,” Walley grinned, setting the jug aside and wiping the area with his mop. “That’s behtaaa,” he yawned. “Hey, Bendy, could ya actually help me out a bit? I could really use some coffee. Could you run to the kitchen on the ground floor? Don’t worry about heating it up, I’m use to drinking it cold. There should be a thermos in the fridge with my name on it.”

   Bendy nodded, smiling. 

   “Thanks for the help, pal!” Wally smiled a big bright smile, and Bendy couldn’t help but smile bigger and brighter before running off.

   Wally watched the toon rush off, chuckling a little. “He’s alright. Don’t know why everybody's so nervous about him. They made his cartoons, you’d think they’d know by now the little devil ain’t got a mean bone in ‘im.”

   Bendy smiled even larger, having paused in the hallway to finish listening to what Wally said. _ Wally likes me! _ The little toon ran up the stairs rather quickly, taking the steps two at a time. He easily found Wally’s thermos and raced to bring it back to the man. Just as he was turning the corner, his foot hit an ink puddle and slipped out from under him, causing him to fall butt first on the ground, thermos rolling away from him.

_    “Ahh!  _ Oh, heh, you ok, Bendy?” Wally asked, before glancing down at the thermos rolling over to himself. He stooped down to pick it up. “You could’ve just handed it to me ya know?”

   “S-sowwy,” Bendy whispered, pushing himself back up.

   Wally shook his head. “Not like you meant to fall, bud. I was just, tryin’ to make a joke, you know.”

   Bendy nodded as he rubbed his behind and straightened the kink the fall knocked into his tail.

   “Wait a second... did that actually hurt?”

   Bendy nodded again, growing nervous. Was he not suppose to feel pain?

   “Huh, who woulda thunk? ... Well, be careful, that ink sometimes seems to have it out for people. Why, just the other day I was complaining about the stuff and it freaking drenched me not a minute after. Seriously, if you’d have seen me you’d believe that there was another toon ‘round here. Good thing it wasn’t too far from some’a the showers. I’ve started keeping an extra set of clothes in all the bathrooms.” Wally shook his head and took a big gulp of coffee from his thermos. “I tell ya, if that happens again, I’m outta here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a nice mood shift from the previous chapters. Not all doom and gloom, sadness and depression. Benvo _actually enjoyed_ this chapter.
> 
> Now, I'm having a surgery real soon and might not get around to posting the next chapter on next Monday due to pain and suffering... So... Plan on seeing an extra chapter this week! I will still try to post another on Monday, but I think ya'll deserve an extra chapter and getting reactions from another freshly posted chapter may be just the medicine I need to deal with my pain of recovery.  
> Like always, I would really enjoy reading some comments if any of ya feel like doing so.


	5. Something Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our devil darling is in a self deprecating mood after having gotten in Joey's way. Luckily, a certain accountant decides to help out in the best way he knows how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another character is brought into this series! Welcome the one and only, Grant Cohen!
> 
> So, surgery... It was postponed due to a little safety hazard in the form of a small infected zit... but I said there'd be another chapter this week, so have another chapter this week.  
> Enjoy~

   Bendy found himself yet again curled up in a hallway, tears having already ran dry. He had accidentally gotten under Joey’s feet and caused his creator to fall on top of him. He should have been more careful. He knew Joey wasn’t very steady on his feet.

   Bendy sniffled, wishing he wasn’t in the real world. He wondered what it would be like if he hadn’t been brought to life. Despite having all of the memories he had, hr had already realized that he must not have been conscious during them. So unconscious and out of the way. He smiled, a sad broken smile. That would be nice. Despite the fact that he was a star, Bendy felt more like a sun in a blistering desert, just making everyone uncomfortable and... unhappy.

   Tears welled up in his eyes yet again as Bendy sniffed.

   “Hey,” a gruff voice called out.

   Bendy jerked and scrambled up, looking to see who it was that found him.

   “Let me, uh, guess... Mr. Drew?” a man asked, looking down at him.

   Bendy wiped his eyes clear before slowly nodding.

   The man rolled his eyes. “Damn jerk, can’t even... Come on, kid, I’ve got something for ya.”

   Bendy perked up at that. Someone  _ had  _ something for  _ him?  _ No one had really given him something before, well, besides Joey, who gave him life and a room and the like. But this was someone who wasn’t Joey, someone who he hadn’t really met yet. He quickly followed the man.

   “Drew can be a real ass, but it’s best not to let it get to you, see?”

   Bendy glanced up at him, not use to someone talking to him so... casually.

   “He’s always going to treat everyone else like we’re worthless while he’s  _ making his dreams come true,  _ and there’s, uh, no use in feeling miserable because of guys like him.”

   The two arrived at the elevator and the man pressed the button for level S. Bendy shifted nervously. He hadn’t been to that level yet. He looked at the guy beside him, watching as he rubbed the fabric of his tie between his thumbs. He was pretty quiet as he led Bendy to a room on Level S. It was a small room consisting of a desk, a chair, and not much else.

   “Here ya go, kid.” The man held something out to Bendy. Bendy blinked, taking the thing from him. It looked like a small ball. He looked up at the man confused. “Eh, you’re right, this may call for the big guns.” He opened up a drawer and pulled out something else, before placing it in his hand next the the ball.

   Bendy stared at the yellow package with “Mallow Cup” written on it in big red letters.

   “What, you’ve, uh, never seen candy before?”

   Bendy’s eyes widened before looking up at the man with a big genuine smile.

   The guy chuckled, once again fiddling with is tie. “Go on.”

   Bendy popped the ball into his mouth and bit down. His teeth came to a jarring stop on the object, causing him to flinch.

   “Wo-uh, you really haven’t seen candy before. That’s a jawbreaker. You don’t just chew those up, you suck on them.”

   Bendy nodded, showing that he understood. He rolled the ball around in his mouth, savoring the smooth texture and sweet flavor. It wasn’t as extreme as the cartoons made candy out to seem, but the sensation was one of the best he’d ever experienced. Even though he loved bacon soup and the other things that Joey brought him, nothing compared to this.

   “Heh, feel free to hang out kid,” the man smiled, taking a seat at his desk, placing a jawbreaker in his mouth as well. “Just, don’t distract me from my work, got it?”

   Bendy nodded before placing the candy into his cheek. “Okie. Wha’zz yer nahm’?”

   “Huh?”

   Bendy placed the ball in his free hand before speaking again, making sure to pronounce things the correct way like he had begun practicing at night to distract himself from the scary things he imagined. “What’s. Yer. Name?”

   “Grant.”

   “It’s nice ta meet ya, Grant!”

   Grant smiled a crooked smile. “Nice to formally meet you too, squirt.”

   Bendy beamed before tossing the jawbreaker back into his mouth. He sat by the wall as Grant worked, fully focused on the jawbreaker’s shifting flavors and textures. After a while, it dissolved into nothing and Bendy eagerly unwrapped the next candy to find a thick brown disk. He placed it in his mouth and found a fluffy cloud of sweetness covered in a brown coat of pure goodness.  _ This must be what heaven tastes like. _

   Bendy melted against the wall figuratively, and a little literally. He briefly thought about how this was the first time his ink went unstable from something so good, but he didn’t fully care. It wasn’t like he was running all that bad, so it couldn’t be an issue. He couldn’t even pay mind to the gurgling of ink in the nearby pipes that decided to arise, the same gurgling that was making it hard for him to fall asleep at night.

   Grant, however, did pay mind to it, getting up and grumbling as he tapped the exposed pipe in his office. He liked the silence of his room and would not allow that interruption to continue. Once it seemed that the passing air had gone, Grant hummed a sound of approval and returned to his desk, pulling another jawbreaker out of his ceramic candy jar before setting back to work, reviewing over the latest financial reports. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I headcanon Grant as an autistic guy, who sucks on hard candies to stim. You can wrench this headcanon out of my cold dead hands, for I am _never_ giving it up.
> 
> Benvo's making new friends, things are all happy and nice. This is good. I like this... *glances at future chapters and gulps anxiously* Yep... This is good...


	6. Angelic Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pleasant dream, a not so pleasant reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *glances down at the chapter below* It's a tad bit shorter than I'd like... But I think you'll find that it is not lacking in content.  
> Enjoy~

   Plush lips pressed against his. The angel's softness made his feet seem to drift off the ground, his mind fuzzing up in a warmth that soothed all worries. The grey landscape surrounding them was blurred and full of lazily shifting light, the impression of a pretty meadow in the haze of this existence of pure bliss.

_    Alice. _

   Her radiance made him feel so small, but he still was so blessed to be in her presence. Her hair gently gave at his touch, so soft through his gloves, her dress gently brushing against his legs. Who needed wings when this contact alone made one feel like they could fly?

   Eternity like this would be perfection...

   Bendy's eyes fluttered open, the ghost of his dream still making his lips tingle and his heart yearn. He hugged the plush of himself against his chest as he let out a small yawn. After lifting his hands to wipe the sleepy daze from his eyes, Bendy peered around the old animators room with its desks and old papers, taking in the few colors that were in the room, blinking himself back to reality.

   His smile slowly dropped to a tiny frown. This wasn't some cartoon. There wasn’t any Alice. Bendy didn't have that cute gal to pat his head right between the horns, and tell off those who mistreated him, and scold him and Boris when they do things not really good... to explain why he was in the wrong when he forgot how things worked... To make him feel so small... but so good in the fuzzy and light way demons weren’t supposed to experience...

   Bendy could feel wetness dripping down his cheeks and lifted his hand to touch at it. His glove came away, stained by inky tears. Bendy wiped at his eyes.

_    Soon Joey will bring her to life. Soon I’ll get to play with her and chase her around and-and woo her with my innocent charm! Soon... but... _

   But the recent attempts scared him. The ink formed the right shapes, but destabilized before his eyes. Joey was trying so hard to make Boris right now, but nothing was working. Some of them stayed for a few minutes. Bendy could still feel the hug of the most recent Boris. 

   The lanky wolf had been so scared... He had grabbed Bendy for comfort, trembling as the demon returned the hug...  Bendy had patted his back to reassure him, to let him know things were ok, that this was ok, they were together, it would be ok... and he just melted in Bendy’s arms like... like waking up from a dream to find oneself in a nightmare world of horror.

   Bendy hugged himself, quietly crying.

_    What if it never works? What if I never get Boris or Alice?  _ Bendy sniffled, wishing he hadn’t been the first toon to be created.  _ What if I’m always alone? _

   He cried himself into a light unsatisfying sleep, unwilling to leave the room and chance dealing with the humans that worked in the studio. It wasn’t until someone dropped something loudly nearby his door and woke him back up, that he decided to actually do anything that day. Waiting until the fumbling quieted and the person’s footsteps were gone from his hearing, he slowly pulled himself out of the hammock, a sort of liquid oozing motion one would expect from a tired unwilling character from a cartoon, and snuck over to the small theater not too far away from his dwelling to watch his old cartoons.   


 

. . .

 

   The demon wondered why his favorite past time was making him feel so hollow today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, look, a little Bendy/Alice chapter. It's all cute and sweet. Also, I've been informed by my beta reader that "you can feel the depression" in this chapter. So I hope ya'll enjoyed that!
> 
> Next Monday is my new surgery date, so there is a good chance I'll post the next chapter on Sunday if I decide there's no way I'll get to it on Monday.


	7. Head Deep in Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our demon finds himself trapped in the music department with the band when the stairwell floods, which he needs to get back to get back to the studio locations Joey Drew expects him to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My surgery is today. I'll hopefully come up with a better chapter summary ~~and notes~~ later.

   Bendy sat on the floor in the music department. He ignored the nervous glances Sammy shot toward him, use to the perfectionist constantly worrying about Bendy's judgement of whatever it was he was doing. Instead, Bendy rested his back against the wall and listened to the band playing. The music was beautiful, probably something specifically for Alice. He let the idyllic instrumentals lull him into a trance.

   “Heavens to Betsy!” someone yelled, making Bendy jump awake. He glanced side to side, worried Joey was about to scold him, but no one was there, not even the band.

   “This can not be happening again,” Johnny groaned from what sounded to be the music department’s entrance. “I've got a date tonight!”

   Bendy curiously made his way out of the recording studio to find all of the disgruntled musicians looking down the staircase. Bendy joined up with them to see what they were staring at, just to find that ink had flooded the stairwell. He made a face of disgust.

   “This damn studio is a disaster,” the violinist stated. “I'm so close to quitting this place.”

   “And go jobless, no thanks,” the drummer stated. “We's all lucky to not be feeling the depression too hard because of this studio. Better to just deal with all this ink.”

   “But, guys, I can't be late to this date! She could really be the one.”

   “Johnny, this is your third dame this month.”

   Bendy backed away from the small crowd, trying to think of something to help these people out, as well as himself. If he's trapped here all night, Joey will be capital-U-Unhappy. Just falling asleep in the music department may have already upset Joey if he had wanted to find him for something.

   Bendy glanced past the people to the stairs, thinking.

   “I'll get the control switch in Sammy's office,” the base player sighed, walking off.

   “That's not going to change the fact we'll be walking through some ink, and I'm supposed to be picking her up in half an hour!”

   Bendy slipped through the crowd again. He could feel eyes on his back as he went down stairs, approaching the ink. “Ain't there a drain in th’hallway?”

   The musicians were silent for a moment before the violinist piped up, “Yeah. Are you willing to get it?”

   Bendy looked up at the others with his big smile. “O’cou’se!” he stated enthusiastically, easing a foot into the ink. He could feel a slight tingling sensation, probably due to the colder ink chilling his own.

   He waded deeper into the ink, pushing back the inherent panic that bubbled up with how close the ink was to his mouth as he willed his head to float just a little bit higher. He forced the exit door open, which was no easy task even for him with the ink swirling and tugging at him from the thick inky current rushing forward trying to close the door once more, and slipped into the hallway. He saw the burst pipe, which was now down to a slow drip, and looked around.

   A small tug on his tail caused Bendy to jump, glancing around as the ink sloshed lazily back to its previous stillness. All he could see was ink, pipes, and walls. He shook his head before spotting the drain valve. He waded to the valve, partially swimming, before a tug on his leg plunged him face first into the ink. Instinctively Bendy closed his mouth tightly, kicking out at the ink for anything solid, but there was nothing.

   The toon pushed himself up reaching around blindly. His hand found the valve and he frantically began turning it, the ink starting to drain out of the room. Wiping ink off his face, sputtering and spitting, he began running for the door to the music department, the draining ink hindering his speed greatly and threatening to pull him with it. His foot was jerked back again, but he was able to yank it free and only stumbled along his way. He found the stairs and scrambled up them.

   “Bendy!”

   “What the hell?”

   Bendy tripped on the last step and fell with a splat in front of the musicians, who backed away to avoid getting ink on themselves.

   “What spooked ya, bud?”

   Bendy looked back at the stairs, shaking only like a toon can shake.

   “Looks like he tripped.”

   “S-somethin’ in th’ink.”

   The drummer chuckled. “You probably stepped on one of them cans of soup.”

   Bendy frowned. He could have sworn something grabbed him, but... his foot could have just gotten snagged on things. There were a few odds and ends in that exit corridor, after all, and the ink was known for knocking things down when it flooded things that bad. The toon looked away sheepishly.

   “Come on, kid, let's get you cleaned up.”

   Bendy looked down at himself, drenched in ink from shoes to horns. He closed his eyes and focused on the ink, absorbing it into himself. He opened his eyes and frowned. It worked on his body, but his gloves and bow were still black, and ink clearly still covered his shoes by the way they looked extra shiny and wet. He gave a small nod and followed the violinist as she led him away from the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, I feel inspired by comments! Let me know you are still reading by sending me a few reactions, no matter how silly you think they are.


	8. Voicings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our toon gets a change of pace, and some things are said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter hasn't been edited to hell and back because I wrote it up in a fit of inspiration this weekend. Please comment your thoughts and any caught mistakes because this is such raw material that it hasn't even been beta'ed yet. I hope you enjoy!

   Bendy stood in waiting, one of his cutouts held close as he peaked around the corner to spy on the door to the break room. Allison had went in there a while ago and Bendy was eager to hear her cute little shriek of surprise once she came out and went to round this corner. His tail flicked side to side merrily as he waited, quietly giggling to himself.

   “Bendy, what are you doing?”

   The toon jumped, dropping the cutout of himself as he turned and scrambled away from Joey Drew himself. “I-I, was, um... I-I just wanted ta scare, uh, surprise miss Allison!”

   “Stop goofing off, I have a job for you today.”

   A grin spread across the demon’s face and he hopped to attention, his anxiety and shaking gone as quick as it came on. “Really!?”

   “... Yes. Come along.” Joey motioned for Bendy to follow him with his free hand, limping along on his cane a little worse than his usual ‘old man gait.’

   Bendy’s head tilted to the side as he followed before finally questing, “Is yer leg ok?”

   Joey glanced back at the toon, seeming to consider him for a bit before huffing. “There’s a storm coming. This knee always acts up when a storm’s coming.”

   “A storm? W-will we be alright?” Bendy whimpered with a tremble, memories of trees being yanked to the side, wind ripping boards off of houses until only a frame was left which would then be blown away as well, rain strong enough to flood the area, him and Boris trying to guide their door of a raft away from rapids–

   “Yes, it doesn’t seem like it will be much more than a little rain,” Joey shrugged, his walking barely hindered at the movement.

   Bendy nodded to show that he understood, but still didn’t like it much. _Maybe this is another thing that gets over exaggerated in cartoons?_ The toon swallowed, squared his shoulders, and tried to put on a brave face as he tailed Joey. “Then we’ll be fine! Um, will yer leg be?”

   Joey made a sound of affirmation and Bendy grinned. If Joey said he’d be alright then he’d be alright.

   Bendy spotted a puddle of ink ahead and grabbed Joey’s leg, tugging him back without thinking. The man stumbled and caught himself before shooting the toon with a glare.

   “Uh. th-there’s ink,” Bendy whispered, avoiding Joey’s eyes.

   “There’s always ink,” Joey grumbled, straightening back up before pointedly stepping over the puddle. “These damned pipes aren’t put together right, ink keeps leaking out anywhere and everywhere. Might as well get use to it.”

   Bendy nodded, making a wide arch around the standing ink with a slight shiver.

   “This fear of yours is starting to get out of hand.”

   Bendy looked down, feeling a bit ashamed of how skittish he was getting around ink over the past few months.

   “But, I suppose, I wouldn’t feel too comfortable if I came across a puddle of blood,” Joey sighed after a moment, “so... I can’t really fault you for that.”

   Bendy relaxed, looking back up, and noticed that they were heading away from the ink machine. Bendy sped up a little to get a better look at Joey’s face. “Um, what’s tha job ya have fer me?”

   “Until we have a large enough cast of toons to record a cartoon in the real world, you will record the sounds and lines for Bendy in the hand drawn cartoons,” Joey explained, glancing down at the little demon. “Right now we need some of your laughter as well as a line.”

   Bendy stumbled a little. “My laug– I’m gonna get ta perform?” He sped up ahead of Joey and turned, walking backwards with a huge smile, his eyes actually gaining a shine in them. “I’ll actually get ta be in a cartoon!?”

   Joey chuckled, a small smile playing on his lips, which only seemed to increase the doe eyes Bendy was giving off. “Your voice will be. It will still be awhile before you get to do what you are meant to do, my darling devil.”

   “Goody!” Bendy whooped, jumping for joy, just to run into someone and stumble to the ground. “Er, s-sorry,” Bendy said, turning over. His eyes landed on a man of tall proportion, with dark reddish skin, long dreadlocks, and a cowboy hat that cast his face in shadow. This man was three times the toon’s height and had a solid build that moved so quietly Bendy swore he was part shadow. The toon dashed behind Joey’s legs, cowering. “S-sorry! I wo– I didn’t mean ta run, er bump inta ya, M-mistah projectionist, s-sir!”

   The man raised an eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold before him. “Not a problem,” he responded, his voice deep and gravelly, which only made the little toon freeze in what seemed like a stronger fear. He tipped his hat to Joey and muttered a respectful, “Sir,” before continuing on the way the toon and boss had come.

   Joey gently shook Bendy from his legs before continuing on to the elevator. “Come along, I will not have you wasting more time that we could be spending on getting you acquainted with the equipment.”

   Bendy nodded, and scrambled into the elevator, already buzzing with excitement once more as he was dropped to some lower levels and taken to a recording booth. The lights and equipment were a bit dazzling to him, and Joey seemed to get a little exasperated with how fascinated Bendy was with the hanging microphone, but with a brief tickle to elicit a giggle, some spurring for other odd noises and squeaks, and a little praise, the demon was able to produce the brightest and most cheerful, “Happy holidays, everyone!” With the right animation, Joey adamantally believed he could get the masses to buy even more merchandise this year than last, even despite the economic hiccup, as he put it. Bendy was just glad to hear how pleased Joey was with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give me comments on this chapter, I kinda whipped it up to cover the last few things I wanted to get out before we get into, well... the next chapter.  
> Also, the reason why Joey just got to this with Bendy is because he decided the company is at a point where it doesn't need to reuse old sounds and could up the ante a bit. (I personally place this chapter of this AU around November 1932. The worst of the DOW crash has already happened, sales started increasing again by a little while prices are dropping, construction contracts are up by 30%, ~~Joey's started planning the BendyLand project with Bertrum, much to Grant's frustration,~~ FDR is about to become president, the agricultural collapse has just really started... And Bendy cartoons are actually becoming more popular... for some reason... Might as well up the ante while people are eating it up.)


	9. Brand New Boris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quite some time has passed since the studio has seen any new faces, and while this face may not be new per say, it's the first time this face has ever been seen in _this_ way before. Some discoveries are made, and some discoveries are... missed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the chapter we've all been waiting for. Finally, at long last, we get a new toon!

   “Bendy,” Joey smiled, a light in his eyes similar to the light Bendy had seen when he first came out of the ink machine.

   The toon grinned, ecstatic to see his creator in such a great mood. It felt like it had been over a month since he even seen the man crack a small smile.

   “Come with me, I have someone you’ll like to meet.”

   Bendy hopped off the chair he was on, leaving his breakfast behind, and respectfully walked over to Joey, who led him down the hallway and over to the inspection room. There, sitting on the inspection table, was Boris.

   After a moment of shock Bendy’s eyes widened and his grin stretched even wider. He shot over to the new toon. “Boris!” He hugged the larger toon’s leg. “How’d ya do it, Joey?”

   “Wasn’t me that did it. Wally decided to give it a try, and figured out how to do it.”

   Bendy looked up at Boris, who was staring at Joey. Bendy glanced at Joey, just to see him give a ‘go on’ kind of gesture. Boris slipped off the table and kneeled down. Bendy let go of him so as not to be in the way. Boris wrapped him up in a big hug and Bendy happily hugged him back.

_So this is what it feels like to hug another toon. He feels cool... and soft. His ink is actually acting like fur!_

   Bendy pulled back to look into the black pie cut eyes of the wolf. “We’re gonna be great friends!”

   Boris’s expression was hard to read, it seemed confused.

_Maybe he needs a little time to be fully running up stairs? He isn’t even a day old yet after all._

   Bendy smiled a bit more softly. “I’ll show ya ‘round. Um, can I?”

   “Go ahead,” Joey stated, leaving.

   Boris watched Joey go with a small whine.

   “It’s ok, buddy. Joey is usually busy. Ya can hang out wi’ me. I think I might be able ta scrounge up a hammock fer ya too. Life is tirin’ after all, especially at th’ staht.”

   Boris gave a small smile at that and Bendy broke the hug, grabbing the toon’s hand. “Now, I don’ think tha humans have ta deal with it, but watch out fer ink puddles... They’s kinda creepy.”

. . .

   It wasn’t long into the tour before Boris had fallen asleep in Bendy’s hammock. Deciding it was best to leave the wolf to his slumber, the smaller toon went out on his own. He felt exhausted himself, with all the talking he’d been doing, which was more than he’d usually do in an entire month, but the excitement that the ink machine was finally creating other toons still made him too buzzed to join his new pal. He found himself in the breakroom, looking at the books that were there, thinking about reading something if he could get himself to focus long enough.

   Out of the corner of his eye he saw an oddly smudged crumpled up paper in the wastebasket, which was odd, especially this early in the morning. Wally always had these trash cans cleared before he left at night. The short toon’s curiosity got the best of him and he went over to investigate. He found the page covered in a shaky scrawl.

> **_I dont know! one moment Im mopping and then Im waking up on the floor like this!_ **
> 
> **_Joey, you gotta fix me! I cant be like this for the rest of my life!_ ** **_I can’t_ ** **_Joey, my mom needs me. She sees this and she_ ** **_will_ ** **_have a hart atack! I c_ **
> 
> **_Yeah, yeah... got you boss. You just better take care of my mom til we FIX THIS! Othawise, Im outta here! FOR GOOD!_ **

   Bendy stared at the crumpled up paper in confusion, the writing not making much sense. With a shrug, he crumpled it back up and placed it back in the trash. He quietly left the room, figuring it may be best to get more soup. Boris had always been a hungry wolf, so he’d probably be starving the moment he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boris! It's Boris everyone! He's alive! Exhausted, but that's part of being alive! No more all-alone Bendy, no more "What if ___ is never made?"! Just friendship and happy feelings from here on out! Everything will turn out just fine! It-it's not like this is leading to some fall of the studio that has a monster prowling the halls! No- why would I say that? W-why would I... *thinks about future chapters* Why am I writing this?  
> Stay tuned for the next installment of "Puddles" where Benvo is a happy bean doing happy bean things. Meanwhile, feel free to send commentary, talk about things you want to see, mention things you don't want to see, and bring up things you fear you will see.


	10. Toy Makers R Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newest member of the JDS family is not his usually laid back and happy self, so the darling devil finds himself on a mission: retrieve toys, improve Boris's mood. However, he's not the only one hanging around the toy area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, another happy little chapter! Golly gee, this series has just went to the sap. Enjoy this sweet little thing and... have fun with the headcanons that this chapter reveals.

   Bendy studied the map he had of this place, planning his method of attack. Boris seemed to be down with this new life, his focus on food rather low—but not many would enjoy bacon soup all the time like Bendy himself—and Bendy wanted to fix that. Normally, that is, if he were in his cartoon, he’d pull out an amazing mouth watering sandwich from behind his back that would fix things. But, this wasn’t a cartoon and the only food around was other people’s, and Bendy didn’t want to steal anything like food in this world. His shows had shown that that wasn't considered good. Toys on the other hand, he could borrow toys that didn’t belong to anyone.

   The Elevator jolted to a stop, forcing Bendy to catch himself on the button panel to keep from eating elevator dust. He hopped out of the elevator before it could close and move to the level he accidentally pressed and began walking up the stairs to the left.

   “It shouldn’t be that fah,” he thought out loud as he arrived at a hallway of machinery. He paused to look at the moving gears, mesmerized by them, before shaking his head and continuing on.

   “Toy sto’age... Toy sto’age...” Bendy looked up from the map as he turned the corner to where the toy storage was suppose to be, and froze. There were shelves upon shelves of plushies and other toys JDS made. There were Bendys, and Alices, and Borises galore, planes and trains and boats and more! Bendy dropped the map, going to the nearest shelf and hugging as many plushes as he possibly could to himself. He laughed in euphoria, his eyes large as he tried to take it all in. There were just so many toys!

. . .

   “Hey, who’s in there!” a voice with a strong irish accent came from the hallway on the other side of the room. Bendy froze, a plane held up above his head as a man walked in with a box in his arms.

   He whistled. “So you really _ are  _ real! People be tellin’ me, but...” The man shook his head and set the box down. Bendy could see that it was full of toys. “The name’s Flynn, Shawn Flynn!”

   Bendy slowly lowered his arm, setting the plane on a nearby shelf. 

   “What brings you down here? Just wanted something to play with?”

   Bendy slowly nodded, approaching the odd sounding man. Something about his voice seemed a tad bit familiar.

   Shawn glanced around before placing a hand to his face, loudly whispering, “Take some of the angel’s dolls. They ain’t be sellin’.”

   Bendy tilted his head to the side. “They ain’t?”

   Shawn stared at the demon for a moment and chuckled to himself. “Joey loves his angel, but she’s just not all that popular. Not like you be. You... Even with how things are, people love th’ lil’ devil darlin’. Kinda nice ta see someone that’s got worse luck than you and, well, you be a kind character. Most good characters got th’ best o’ luck, ya know. Don’t appeal to people as much now that they all be down on it. For them, yer relatable. That’s why such a smaller studio cartoon such as yers still be doin’ so well.”

   Bendy stared up at Shawn in wonder. He sounded so knowledgeable. “Th’ audience really likes me that much?”

   “O’ course! Yer stuff’s still sellin’! Oh, we actually be experimentin’ with somethin’ right now. Come on,” Shawn motioned for the toon to follow him. Bendy followed readily. They slipped through a couple halls and into a room with moving shelves. “We’ve been experimentin’ with the ink lately. Tryin’ to make it create things —not like you, inanimate type stuff ya see— and, it’s been respondin’ great! We’re working on this new thing and, well, I think we almost have it!”

   Shawn flipped a switch on a machine with his right hand. Bendy would have begun staring as he noticed that two of the man's fingers were missing, but the machine started up and a belt began moving, easily pulling the toon's focus back to the task at hand. Out of the machine came what looked like a little high definition Bendy, floating head and all! Bendy grinned and grabbed it. Just for it to splash into ink. Bendy backed away, trembling. It was just like when they were trying to make Boris! Bendy glanced up at Shawn.

   “Yeah, those floating head Bendy’s ain’t perfect yet, but once we get it ta work right all the time, people will really like them. You see these,” he motioned to some Boris and Alice dolls on shelves. “They be made of ink too. Once you are shown ta the public, they’ll be cheaper to make and sell than even those cloth ones be!” Shawn reached down and rubbed Bendy between the horns. “When even the poorest of souls can buy one o’ ya, you’ll really feel like a star then!”

   Bendy grinned up at him. Even though he knew he was a cartoon character that people watched, it never really clicked that there were a lot of people that actually liked him. He wasn’t exactly popular in his shorts, after all. There were several times he was picked on or even feared for being a demon.

   “Goin’ on, ya came down here for some toys I be guessin’. We’ve got plenty so, feel free to grab a few. Just, if Joey asks, they won’t be from me, got it?”

   Bendy slowly nodded his head, grabbing an ink Boris plush before heading out to get some of the toys from storage.

   “Oh, and Bendy,” Shawn called before clearing his throat. He paused for a moment, as if he were thinking or preparing himself. “It was nice ta meet ya, mistah! Hope ta see ya again real soon!” he grinned in Bendy’s signature fake Boston accent, his voice changing to be just a tad bit more childish and recognizable.

   Bendy stared at him, eyes wide and slack jawed in awe.  _ That’s my voice!  _ The demon got a big smile on his face and he nodded at Shawn before running off with the toys.

_    Golly, that must be my voice actor! And he makes toys too! They really must like me to have him doing so much! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, some explanation. Joey didn't want Bendy to talk too often but figured giving the little demon a canon voice would raise popularity. (So, he pretty much turned Bendy into a Pink Panther esque character with rare lines and all.) Because of this, he decided to find someone that could make a really unique voice that he already had hired. He went to a couple people, but when he had Shawn attempt a Boston accent (an Irish man attempting a Boston accent, the two accents pretty much are entirely different when it comes to how their accents address Rs) he decided that would be the little demon's unique voice.
> 
> Also, yeah, I like to think that Shawn has had an incident with machinery at some point in his life where he lost his right pinky and ring finger. (In fact, almost all the JDS crew have something going on with them that makes them considered unfit for joining the military since I originally created my headcanons for them while planning a story that took place in the 40s.)


	11. Two Makes One/Part 1: Inklings and Amenities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas Connor installs a machine to help out the toons, and Bendy and Boris decide to test it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a fun one. We get to see more of Boris instead of just hearing Bendy's account of what's going on. The poor guy seems to be a bit... troubled... Poor boy. Also, Thomas Connor makes an appearance.

   “Here you two go,” Tom’s gruff voice muttered, slapping the machine he had just installed in their bedroom. “This should work like a miniature ink machine, except instead of creating ink, it just provides form to it. We’re calling it the ink maker.”

   Bendy watched with curiosity as he watched around Boris’s leg. Tom was one of the people he felt uneasy around, but he was beginning to suspect that his voice and attitude was really the only thing scary about the man. He seemed nice enough, and Allison really liked him. Allison was real sweet, so of course she’d only like people who weren’t scary.

   Boris stepped forward, leaving Bendy open. The small demon trembled a little before following, standing beside the wolf, only a couple feet away from Tom.

   “Now, it has settings right here for the different clothes you wear, so that you can replace things when they start getting too ruined. All you have to do is provide it with enough thick ink here,” he motioned to the front top of it where there was a slot, “and set this disk to what you want to make. Once everything is set, you just pull this lever,” Tom stated with a grunt as he did so, “and there you go.” A white bow tie fell into the hollowed bottom of the machine and Bendy couldn’t help but reach down and grab it. Seeing that it was much cleaner than his own bow he carefully replaced it before grinning at how nice it looked.

   Tom let out a quiet chuckle. “Also, I bet you two are losing an appetite for bacon soup by now.”

   Bendy shook his head vigorously, while Boris nodded earnestly, making his ears bob and bounce.

   “Now, you just need to remove this disk here and grab one of these behind it. We have a few different options you can choose from to make some ink based food.”

   Boris looked at Tom incredulously, his tail down in disappointment. Bendy, on the other hand, hopped with joy. “Isn’t that great, Boris!? Thank ya, Tom! This’ll be nice! Boris, let’s see what food we got here! I haven’t gotten ta try much yet. Oh, thank ya mistah!”

   The mechanic chuckled and patted the demon on the head. “You really are something, kid.” The man shook his head. “Well, you two should be set. If there’s any issues I can come fix it.”

   Bendy was already pulling out the few different option wheels and looking at the different pictures. “Ooh, Boris! We can get some burgahs! Would ya like that? Or— hey! There’s ice cream!” Bendy looked up at the wolf with the biggest pie cut eyes. “Can we ha–” Bendy’s smile dropped as he watched the wolf sit down at their dining table and put his head in his hands.

   Setting the different ink maker wheels on the floor, Bendy crept over to the other toon. “Is it a lot ta take in?” he whispered. “I-I keep forgettin’ this is yer first week... It jus’... feels like I’ve had ya forevah...”

   Boris looked down at the demon with wet eyes. He tried to wipe the tears away with a sniff as he turned his head the opposite direction. Bendy frowned. If food wasn’t going to cheer him up, what would? Food was suppose to be a sure way to make the wolf happy.

   Bendy didn’t get to figure something out before the wolf stood up and went over to the ink maker. He pulled out the clothes disc and put in one of the others. Grabbing the cup that was near it, he went over to the sink that had been installed a while ago. He turned on the ink side and thick ink dribbled out. Bendy barely caught his wrinkled snout as the wolf returned to the ink maker and poured the blob into the machine. He pulled on the lever and caught the bowl of ice cream that dropped out. He pulled the lever again and caught another.

   Bendy bounced in his seat, seeing the treat that he’d caught glimpses of in cartoons. “I’ll grab us some spoons!” He announced, jumping out of the chair and going over to where the few dishes they had were kept. He was back before Boris was finished sitting down.

   Bendy sat down and scooped up a heaping spoonful of the ice cream, shoving it in his mouth quickly in excitement. He closed his eyes, taking in the lightly sweet flavor, slightly disappointed. The cartoons made it seem like a bigger deal, that it was supposed to be cold and absolutely delicious. The small toon fought the urge to frown. Grant's candy tasted better than this, but Boris didn't need to know that just yet. It was his first food that wasn't bacon soup after all, so he had nothing to compare it to. Instead, the little demon forced a smile and looked at Boris, “Come on, try it! I think yer gonna like it!”

   Boris nodded and quickly began eating his own ice cream. The atmosphere was tense and Bendy's tail was entirely limp, much like Boris's. Bendy stood up, his ice cream halfway eaten. “Let's try somethin’ else. I'd love ta try a burgah! Want one?”

   Boris hesitated before nodding.

   Bendy fetches another cup of ink and, as he turned to go to the ink maker, tripped. The cup shattered against the floor, ink splattering and sticking in a wet lump of ink and ceramic fragments.

   Boris let out a small sound of alarm, hurrying to Bendy, the wolf carefully helping him up and inspecting him for any damages.

   “Ihm ok,” Bendy muttered, pushing Boris off. “But, th’ cup... Joey might get mad,” he whispered. Boris rolled his eyes, which only made Bendy more worried. “I mean it, Joey, he may be nice sometimes, but when ya mess up..." Bendy shuddered, thinking about how loud Joey could get and how he sometimes gripped his cane extra tight, "he don’t like that.”

   Boris held his hands out in a placating manner. He stood up and motioned for Bendy to follow.

   Bendy did so, following the wolf to a nearby janitor’s closet. Boris glanced left and right before getting on his knees and pushing his fingers under the door. He pulled out a key on a string and smirked up at Bendy, as if he were rather proud of himself.

   Bendy furrowed his brow, wondering how the week old toon would know a trick like that. Who would even set up something like that? Then it clicked. Bendy’s eyes widened. _“Wally.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **:)**


	12. Two Makes One/Part 2: A Janitor in Wolf’s Clothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy and Boris have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

“Wally! What? How!?” Bendy stepped back, ink dripping down his face as his heart thundered in his chest.

Boris’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on. He dove for the demon and slapped a hand on his mouth to shut him up. Boris whined, wishing he could talk. He held a finger from his free hand to signal Bendy to be quiet. As he pulled his hand away, Bendy just stared at him, looking so crestfallen.

The taller toon motioned for the demon to follow him back to the room, grabbing a broom and some acetone from the closet. He led the way back to their room and motioned toward the table. Setting the cleaning supplies down, he grabbed up a pen and paper.

Bendy watched the wolf join him at the table, his mind reeling as he tried to make sense of what was going on. The crumpled paper in the wastebasket, the wolf’s mannerisms, he hadn’t seen Wally since... The toon’s ink was beginning to actually drip off him as he began to hyperventilate. This wasn’t his old cartoon friend Boris, this was his new pal Wally!

A hand shook his shoulder and Bendy looked over at Boris-Wally who was waving a paper in front of his face.

> **_Yes Im Wally. I acsidently turned the ink machine to createing and the ink coght me befor I coold swap it back. Mr. Drews working to find a way to reverce this, but we cant let any one find out OK. Its a secret._ **

Bendy looked at the wolf, feeling far away. “Why is this a secret? Yer... Aren’t people gonna worry?”

The wolf’s ears drooped and he placed the paper back on the table to write some more.

> **_Me being like this woold be mor alarming than me going mising. We need to keep this a secret until Joey finds out how to fix me. Until then, its you and me hanging out, OK. Once he fixs me, Ill be gon for a bit, caze my mom wil be riping me a new one, but I promess, Ill be back. I wont leve you so alone. I mite even get a promotin and play Boris if we can esily swap me back and forth. Lord nows I could use a rase._ **

Bendy looked at the wolf, wanting to trust his words, but uneasy nonetheless. “A-alright, Wally.”

> **_Til we can let others now, youll have to keep calling me Boris._ **

“But ya aren’t Boris. Yer...” Bendy furrowed his brows, not liking this one bit. Boris was Boris, Wally was Wally. But he couldn’t keep the secret if he did what he wanted. “Alright... I guess.”

Wally stared at Bendy, his ears down, before he began writing again.

> **_Also, this stuf tasts reel bad. It has no rite being caled ice creem._ **

Bendy looked from the paper up to the face of the wolf. He giggled at the serious look on Boris's face. “Grant's jawbreakers are better than that,” Bendy agreed. “Maybe we should call it ink cream?”

> **_Ink creem is right. It only tasts like mor ink! If Joey dosnt giv us **ac** **t** **ul** food soon, I'm outta here!_ **

Bendy laughed. “Good luck with that, Boris!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I really struggled trying to come up with the chapter I wanted between this one and the one titled "A Shell" and while I finally got the idea down ~~which turned into a three parter~~ I have to say, I it would be nice to have some fan sent requests. So... If you want to see the toons do something specific, send some requests. I may work it into the series, or just send you a response through the comments and explain if I see that short story as canon or not and why. Feel free to send me ideas! And I still would love to recieve some comments. ~~_(I'm starting to get a bit nervous with how silent things have been.)_~~
> 
> So, next week I have a trip up in the mountains and will have the lamest of lame internet connection —but the lake is so beautiful, I don't care— and will not be posting on Monday... Instead I will post on Sunday and Thursday. Yep, next week will be a two chapter week! *bows* I will always try to gift you an extra chapter when the posting schedule goes wonky.
> 
> P.S. Trying to write phonetically is hard. But that's what Wally is stuck with here. Boris can't talk.


	13. Wolf’s Hunt/Part 1: Sneak Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wolf's list of things, a demon in need of something to do... Looks like someone's got a scavenger hunt!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had a lot of difficulty figuring out what to do here... and finally shoved two ideas together to make this 3 part story of, well... Interactions. Some angst, mostly fluff... Enjoy!

> **_Anemashon departments xashton blanket_ **
> 
> **_Sum_ ** **_only sum_ ** **_of Grants candy_ **
> 
> **_Sammys keys_ **
> 
> **_Flash lite from Toms or Normans tools_ **
> 
> **_Larg stufft toys from toy depa_ ** **_r_ ** **_tment (ezy to caree, not to big)_ **
> 
> **_Bertrums coffee thermus (fil fool with emploe cof_ ** **_f_ ** **_e from lunch brakroom)_ **

   Bendy stared at the list Boris had given him. He clearly had his day cut out for him. While he could read most of the words, there were several he had to read out loud a few times before he figured out what the word was supposed to be, especially with the first on the list. There was supposed to be an “xashton” blanket, whatever xashton meant, over in the animation department. Boris had warned him to be quiet, that though they were only borrowing most of the stuff and would be bringing all but the candy and coffee back, it was a game to not get caught.

   Folding up the list and stuffing it into the bag Wa—Boris had made out of a pair of overalls, Bendy stepped into the animation department. A few people sat at desks, dutifully drawing away on sheets. Dot, going as far away around him as possible as she can get, passed by him.

   Bendy glanced around, trying to spot a blanket, but all he could see was the animators: Robert, Maragret, Chris, and Dennis, working away.

   Dennis noticed him and glanced up. “B-Bendy?” The rest of the animators stopped and stared.

_    Don’t get caught. _

   Bendy glanced at the door, worried about what to do next. Did this mean he was caught? Or was he only caught if people realized what he was doing?

   “Are you lost?” Maragret asked softly, setting her pen down and standing up.

   Bendy quickly shook his head.

   Robert, who was fixing Bendy with an icy unwavering stare, confidently demanded, “What are you here for,  _ demon?” _

   Bendy stepped back. The way Robert looked at him felt bad, but Bendy couldn’t place why. His ink was beginning to drip.  _ What am I here for again? Oh, yeah! _ “A-a bla’ket,” he muttered, his voice trembling a little.  _ Wait, No!  _ “I-I mean-”

   “Oh, you’re looking for the exhaustion blanket?” Maragret smiled, sending a not-as-happy-as-her-smile-suggested look back at Robert before coming closer to the raised platform. She pulled up the largest blanket Bendy had ever seen from the floor just out of his sight. Bendy nodded, a smile crossing his face. It was huge! At least a foot bigger than Boris’s blanket, maybe three of Bendy’s own blanket.

   “Thanks!” Bendy grinned grabbing for the blanket.

   Margaret pulled the blanket away from Bendy. “Ah, clean up first. We’ve been pretty dutiful to keep this thing ink stain free, got it?” 

   Bendy nodded, quickly reabsorbing his ink before more politely holding his hands out. Margaret placed the blanket in his hands and he quickly left.

   “I can’t believe you just gave him our blanket!” Robert hushedly yelled. “What if he—” Bendy didn’t catch the rest as he ran for his room. There was no way this thing would fit in the bag, so he’d have to deliver it to Boris now. As he pulled the thing into the bedroom, Boris left the ink maker that he was working on—trying to make it have a better delivery system than ‘drop and tumble onto the ground.’ He nodded at the blanket before taking it and folding it up, placing it on a stray art desk. He pulled out his notepad and quickly wrote something.

> **_Good job. Good luk with geting the rest. Bertrums thermus is going to be hardest to fin and grab. Beter get it nex._ **

. . .

   Bendy found himself in a new place. He had never travelled this deep into the studio, but he knew it was underground. It had to be. The animation department wasn’t that high up off the ground, he could tell by the few glimpses he got from the door. But here he was, in the deepest level of the studio.

   Bendy shook his head, trying to clear it from all of the thoughts that he was buried here. The ground crumbling in through the walls, sifting through the cracks to leave this place like some cemetery,  _ everyone buried and dead and- _

   He shook his head more vigorously. He’d been down here to this level before with Grant, but something about being so close to the elevator felt safer. Now, now he just wanted to run back. But Boris wanted him to finish this scavenger game.

   The little demon tightened his bow with a small tug and entered BendyLand. He snuck around, hiding amongst the Bendy themed stuff to keep from getting caught by all the construction workers. The other places had quite a bit, but this place might even be worse than toyland due to variety. He even found Bendy costumes, which he almost decided to try and use as a disguise, but decided the huge human sized costumes would make him too bulky for sneaking.

   He went towards the sounds of a grandiose voice booming out orders that couldn’t be anyone other than Bertrum himself. Bendy had seen and heard him a couple times around Joey’s office.

   Just as Bertrum came into sight, Bendy spotted the biggest, shiniest thermos in the world, to his knowledge anyway. It couldn’t be anyone’s besides Bertrum himself. With a flick of the tail, he dashed over to it and snatched it up, shoving it into the bag, and dashed out. Before anyone could glance over and spot him, he and the thermos were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Benvo's going around, ~~stealin'~~ borrowin' stuff. Little rascal. Hope the darlin devil don't get caught.
> 
> So, I should probably explain my headcanon and how I work out the whole underground theme park set up I'mgoing on here. In this AU, JDS was placed on a hill, so BendyLand, what is considered inside the studio, is inside the hill and was going to open up out to the level ground at the side of the hill or even the side of a cliff face. Sadly, I have not yet found a spot in Brooklyn that satisfies this headcanon, so JDS wound up on Staten Island instead in my headcanon for this AU... But I never plan on specifying this so... Yeah, if there is a spot in Brooklyn that I can find to satisfy my HC, I will move it there.


	14. Wolf’s Hunt/Part 2: Red —Er— White Handed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The scavenger hunt continues! Guess stars include Grant Cohen and Norman Polk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July to those who care, and hope you enjoy your July 4th to those who don't! Make sure your pets are locked up tight if you are in an area where fireworks can be heard for this is the top day of the year for pets to go missing in America. I am back from my trip and am gifting ya'll with this chapter because of it.

   Bendy panted in a library of sorts, his heart racing from running and the anxiety of trying not to get caught. He shoved the thermos into the makeshift bag and pulled it back onto his body, shifting it around so that the metal canister wouldn't rub against the base of his tail. 

   Once he could breathe normally, he made his way over to Grant’s office. He hesitated before knocking. He knew he wasn’t supposed to get caught, but this was Grant and candy couldn’t be borrowed if it were to be eaten. He heard some unintelligible grumbling before the door opened. Grant’s eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here, squirt?”

   Bendy grinned at the familiar term and shuffled his feet. “Can I have some candy?”

   Grant made a sound between a laugh and a hum. “Maybe. But it’s going to cost you something.”

   Bendy’s face fell.  _ Cost? _ He didn’t have any money. To emphasize this fact, he patted his hips.

   Grant shook his head. “No no... Right now, I could use a nice big hug. Something snug. Think you can manage?”

   Bendy nodded enthusiastically.

   Grant knelt down and pulled the toon into a tight hug, which Bendy returned even tighter. It lasted long enough that the toon was starting to get uncomfortable, but Grant ended it before the demon could make a fuss about it. “Alright, I think that’s worth some sweets. Come on in.” Grant walked in and the door nearly closed on Bendy before he caught it and slipped inside.

   Grant opened the drawer to his small treasure trove. The small toon snagged a couple different kinds of candy before thanking the man and heading out, glad to be leaving this low of a level after the thoughts he’d been having down here earlier.

. . .

   Bendy was able to snag a Bendy and a Boris doll from storage without spotting or even hearing Shawn. Both plushes were a little over half his height and he stuffed them into the bag. It was a good thing the last things weren’t very big, or he’d have to head back to drop things off again.

. . .

   Bendy watched the break room until he was sure it was empty before slipping in and filling Bertrum’s thermos and stuffing it in between the stuffed toons once more. He did get an odd look from an intern while leaving, but he figured that since the human didn’t see anything, he was still fine.

. . .

   He snuck up into Norman’s booth, glad the projectionist wasn’t there, and began searching through the drawers until he found a flashlight as thick as his arm. With a grin he shoved it into his bag beside the thermos. He turned around and came face to shin with the studio’s silent giant. His mouth gaped open and ink splashed to the floor, his tail no more and horns dripping away as well. Unable to form any noise, not even one of his surprised squeaks, the toon broke down into terrified tears and silent sobs that wracked his body.

   The projectionist took a step back, his usual firm face transforming into an image of panic, before kneeling down. “Shh, shh, it’s ok, calm down, it’s ok,” he soothed in his gruff voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re alright.”

   The toon, now backed up under the desk, was able to calm down enough to soften his sobbing and began quietly hiccuping, staring very intently at Norman Polk through all of the running ink.

   Norman sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I may look big and scary, but I promise I won’t hurt ya. Now... Why are you stealing my flashlight?”

   Still trembling, but at least not dripping ink like a leaky faucet, Bendy whispered, his voice a little warbled, “I-ih’s, I-I jus' w-wan'ed 'a ba-borrow ih.”

   “... Is it for one of your pranks?”

   Bendy shook his head furiously, a couple stray droplets of ink flying off.

   “Darn... Sammy could use someone to knock him down a peg or two. Well, I’m getting off work soon. Just have it back to me by tomorrow, got it?”

   Bendy slowly nodded, incredulous. That was it? No lifting him up and dropping him off the balcony? No hanging him off the edge of a door? No grinding his bones into bread?  _ Can ink bones even make bread? _

   Norman let him leave and the toon walked dazedly down the stairs. Just as he was starting to regain some semblance of coherency, Boris rushed him out of nowhere, his hands ghosting over his head. His eyes were wide and he let out small whimpering noises. Bendy reached up to feel his head and found that his horns hadn’t reshapen themselves yet, causing Bendy to flinch. He hadn’t melted this bad since that first week of living, while Joey was still just trying to see if he’d stay alive. Bendy shivered at some of those memories, glad that Joey hasn’t hit him with the cane since.

   “I-I’m fine. J-jus’ need s’me ink...”

   Boris pulled out his notepad.

> **_What hapened?_ **

   “N-No’man sca’ed me.”

> **_What did he do?_ **

   “Nothin’.”

   Boris stared at him for a bit longer before writing again.

> **_What hav you goton?_ **

   Bendy pulled out the list. “Um... All ‘cept tha keys.

   Boris gave a small nod.

> **_Leev that to me. Go rest, hav sum ink._ **

   Bendy nodded and did as he was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Norman, he may be big, tall, silent, and scary... but he's actually not bad at all! Benvo may still be a bit scared of him though... Oh well.  
> Hey, while this concludes the scavenger hunt, it does not conclude this 3 parter. Yep, there's more to this mini-story and I am gearing up for next Monday! I think ya'll are in for a real treat.


	15. Wolf’s Hunt/Part 3: The Plot’s Reward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris's plan behind the scavenger hunt is revealed, and Bendy doesn't feel comfortable with the rules it will be breaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Bendy. Last chapter ended with quite the melting incident, and now he's being made uncomfortable again. Hope the poor toon can get _some_ good stuff out of this chapter.

   Bendy jumped at the sensation of a hand on his shoulder, nearly falling from his hammock, but the hand quickly steadied him. Bendy blinked blearily, still feeling a bit out of it from all the excitement and melting from yesterday... this day?  _ How long was I sleeping? _

   Boris held up some keys in front of Bendy’s white face before stepping back, letting the toon sit up. The demon rubbed at his temples. Despite having replenished his ink, he still felt a bit wiped from his last melting incident. Finally the toon looked up to see his wolf friend standing by the door, blanket draped over one shoulder, makeshift bag draped on the other. Bendy slipped off his bed and went over to him. “What ‘re we doin’, buddy?”

   The wolf only started walking, his tail actually wagging. Curious, the demon followed.

   They arrived at the exit and Boris shrugged off the bag, placing the key into the doorknob.

   Bendy grabbed his hand before he could open the door, sure his heart was beating out of his chest. “Boris,” he cried out, “Joey told me not ta leave. He doesn’t want us outside yet. He wouldn’t allow it. I-if we get spotted, we’ll be ruined! We aren’t—”

   Boris shoved his notepad into Bendy’s face. The small toon forced himself to focus enough to read.

> **_We arnt leeving the studio groonds. It brarely outside. trus me._ **

   Bendy frowned. The loophole did sound, well, sound. But Joey wouldn’t appreciate it. “He won’t like this. We really shouldn’t. Lets just... go back ta bed.”

> **_Bendy, trus me. He wont find out. If he dos, its all my falt, not you._ **

   Bendy grabbed his tail and wrung it between his hands a couple times. “O-ok,” he whispered, looking at the ground. It still felt wrong.

   Boris pulled on the overall backpack and handed the flashlight to Bendy. With a motion to follow, Boris opened the door and stepped outside.

   Bendy glanced left and right before making his first step outside, shaking as he flipped on the flashlight and pointed it ahead. There were so many stairs leading into the dimly lit surroundings, and Boris was already climbing down them, his tail gently swaying left and right. Bendy hurried after him, tail standing straight up on high alert. The light bounced as the small toon hopped down the stairs. He glanced around, his breath catching. Off in the distance was a... a sea of lights.

   He barely registered that they were no longer climbing down stairs and that Boris had stopped in front of him before he walked straight into the wolf, the blanket over Boris’s shoulder cushioning the impact. Boris reached down and steadied him before shrugging the bag off and spreading the blanket out on the road. Bendy looked around, taking in what he could see, pointing the flashlight here and there. He could see trees, real life trees, and there were white lines on the road creating organized sections. It was amazing. He could hear noises, chirps going off unendingly, a soft call of “ooo” came from the trees here and there, elevating the "Song of Night" as Bendy decided it should be called.

   Boris tapped the demon’s shoulder, a big almost gloating smile on his face. He motioned to the lay out of borrowed objects before laying down on the blanket, placing his head on the Boris doll. He patted the area beside him and Bendy hurried to join him, wondering what they were doing. They couldn’t go to sleep out here. Joey would surely find them then.

   The wolf grabbed the flashlight from Bendy and shut it off just as Bendy finished laying down, head on the stuffed Bendy, and took a good look at the sky. He bolted up right.

   “Boris! There’s so many lights in tha sky! A-are those all stars?” Boris chuckled, tapping once on the other toon’s shoe.

   “Wow,” he breathed, grabbing his head and pushing it up higher as he slowly turned around. His pie cut eyes landed on a big white sliver and his mouth hung open for a good minute before he whispered, “Tha moon.” He sat down abruptly, staring at the moon. It was all so beautiful. Someday he’d be able to see this any time he wanted. Once Joey introduced him to the public, his fans.

   “I wanna sleep out here ev’ry night, Wally.” There were two taps on his leg. “I-I know, not now... But s’meday. Someday, when I’m performin’ for ev’one.”

   Boris sat up and patted the little devil between the horns before grabbing some candy and offering it to the toon. Bendy happily accepted it before laying back down. Boris, on the other hand. Grabbed the thermos and took a big swig. He gasped happily, his tail thumping against the blanket and Bendy’s side before drinking some more.

   The two toons settled down next to each other and stared at the stars, Bendy trying so desperately to memorize the night sky's dots. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his year of life.

. . .

   Bendy danced among the stars that night in his dreams, his angel joining him at some point, after Boris had carried the very groggy demon back to his hammock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, it ended sweet and cute! I can do fluff stuff for this series! I-I can— *looks at some looming chapters and swallows thickly* —Um... I... I needed this, people. I love writing angst, but it hurts so much when I do it to such an innocent bean as Benvo... He deserves all the ice cream the world has to offer... And here I am, just giving him **ink.**
> 
> So, I am participating in Ink Demonth and decide to draw a visual from Benvo's dream at the end of this chapter. Figured I'd gift ya'll with it.  
>   
>   
> 


	16. Admirerer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy has just finished some singing lessons when studio's lead music man stops him for a little chat. What Mr. Lawrence has to say leaves the darling demon uneasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was harder than it should have been. Out of all chapters that may get redone, this is the one at the top of the list. However, I was able to at least get into Sammy's mindset once more to make him at least sound the way I wanted him to.
> 
> Disclaimers: The beliefs expressed in this work by Sammy Lawrence are those of Sammy himself and any offensive misconstructions built by him should not to be seen as ill views towards any religious beliefs held by those in our universe by the author. If you fear that Sammy Lawrence being Sammy Lawrence in a way that can be connected to any set religion may be difficult to handle, take this as your warning that this chapter may not be for you. MARs will not judge you for skipping this chapter.

   "You're doing very good," Susie smiled down at the toon demon, who happily flashed his signature grin. "Just work on holding out that last note. I’m sure we’ll be able to start recording your performance tomorrow."

   Bendy nodded to show he understood, but the idea of practicing any more today just made him want to crawl into his hammock and never open his mouth ever again.

   The toon watched her leave, the dame’s long black hair reminding him so much of the angel she use to voice. While she was a little curt and held a bit too much animosity towards miss Allison, Bendy could see why she had been the first choice to play his gal. Susie was a real canary, her singing captivating when she really let loose. Her compliment played over in his head and he sighed. She was leagues ahead of him, but she still felt compelled enough to compliment his singing. It made him feel all kinds of light and fuzzy inside. 

   "Hey," Sammy called out to him, snapping the demon out of his trance, "I request for you to stay just a little longer, if that is alright."

   Bendy looked up at the muscular music writer with the satin voice. If any man could duet with Susie without being drowned out, it was Mr. Sammy Lawrence. His voice just sounded right whenever he joined up with Susie to help show the toon how the song was supposed to sound like.

   Despite the fact the man could sing, working with him and Susie for the last few hours had felt awkward. Susie kept being friendly and really helpful, giving Bendy all kinds of tips about posture and where to pull his air from... while Sammy kept glaring at her after every touch and telling her to stop treating the toon like an idiot. Bendy really appreciated her help, though. _ Does that mean I am an idiot? _

   Bendy shook his head, clearing out his thoughts, and forced a smile as he nodded to Sammy.

   The man began pacing, pausing a few times and opening his mouth, just to snap it shut and continue pacing as if he were trying to find the words that refused to come. Bendy would have found it comical if the man didn’t always send him such weird vibes.

   "This world has been suffering,” the human finally announced. “Society's cruelty and human competition has destroyed the livelihoods of so many. Humans... After the Great War things were supposed to be right, but look at us. If we aren’t killing each other, we are running ourselves into the ground. 

   “I... I didn’t want to accept it at first, but I know your timing is right. Of course it is. You’re — ” Sammy took a deep breath to calm himself down, stopping his pacing. “No one else realizes, but I see the similarities to your first visit. Like... your life is a miracle, something that shouldn’t have been possible. You take a form that people would frown upon, just like... just like you did back then when you were a child of an immigrant. Not many people today realize that. But I’ve studied, I’ve learned all that I can about you to prove my faith. You always aligned yourself with the sinners that wealthy people frowned upon, those who did their best given what they had. Those who would repent given the chance. Of course you would take the form of a demon now, especially one whose very image is about kindness and charity!” Sammy exclaimed, looking at Bendy with bright blue eyes.

   “S-Sammy?” Bendy whispered, the man starting to scare him with his uncharacteristic exuberance.

   “I promise not to tell,” Sammy quickly assured, which didn’t feel reassuring to the demon. “At least, not until you want me to, of course,” the man quickly amended, holding his hands up submissively. “I am just honored that you are here, that you've gifted this studio with your presence... That I’ve had the chance to meet you in my life... Just... I’ve been wondering... What are you waiting for?”

   Bendy was silent, unsure of what the man was asking and thoroughly afraid of what he may do if Bendy answered wrong. His head felt like it was spinning, but he made sure to keep his eyes firmly placed on Sammy. The toon nearly jumped out of his skin when Sammy cleared his throat and suddenly removed his fedora, holding the hat in both hands.

   “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to question your methods,” he stated, bowing his head. “I understand that you want to do things your way and I might trip you up. Just... Just know that if you need anyone to follow you, anyone to help... Just know, I am here to serve you, my lord."

   The toon stared up at the man, who didn’t seem to be moving an inch. Slowly, Bendy walked back towards the door, keeping his shoes from making any loud taps until be bumped into the door frame. At the sudden jolt, the toon rushed out of the room, his one goal being to get distance between himself and Sammy as quickly as possibly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Sammy... You and your... Beginning Bendy fetish. It took him about a year to research, reflect, stress over, and accept the very incorrect beliefs he has and now Bendy has a front row seat to this screwball's creation.  
> 
> 
> Took me way too long to bring up this chapter, but I finally did it! Just before things start to get... really... _interesting._


	17. A Shell/Part 1: The Ingredient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey shows up in the middle of the night, ready to make a brand new toon with Bendy's help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yepsadoozy, Joey is out to make another. But the question is, how?

   Bendy woke to a hand that was suddenly over his mouth, his body being shook violently from his sleep. Staring wide eyed in front of himself, the toon’s eyes were no longer his usual pie-cut ovals but instead fearful circles of black and white. “Mmf!”

   “Shhhh,” someone hissed in front of the startled toon.

   Blinking his eyes back to normal, Bendy calmed down, peering through the darkness. The hand left his mouth and the person began limping towards the door. “Come.”

   “J-Joey?” Bendy muttered, climbing out of his hammock. “What’s—”

   “Shhhh!”

   Flinching, the toon shut up and followed him. Once they were a ways away from the room Bendy shared with Boris, Joey spoke up. “I have a new experiment to try. I’m thinking it is about time we bring Charley in.”

   Bendy frowned. “But... Angel?” he asked, wondering why they wouldn’t be bringing her next. She was a main protagonist... of sorts. Why create one of the bad guys now?

   “We are not ready to bring someone like the angel to life just yet. She needs to be perfect when we make her. So, it is time for Charlie to join us instead. Come on.”

   They walked in silence for a moment and Bendy glanced between Joey and the hallway to the ink machine as they walked pass it. He quickly caught up to Joey and tapped his leg questioningly.

   “I have a certain ingredient we need to grab first,” Joey explained, exasperated.

   The demon nodded and returned to his position a few feet behind the man. They approached the entrance and Bendy froze, noticing the shape of a man resting against the wall. _Who is that? If this guy sees me—_

   “Grab it,” Joey instructed.

   The toon looked up at his creator. “What?”

   “That body, grab it. I’ve already had to drag it all the way up here. Bring it down to the ink machine.”

   “B-body?” the demon stuttered. Flits of memories passed before his eyes, all times that he encountered dead or death related creatures in his cartoons and the fear he was animated to have, fear that felt all too real right now.

   “Yes, damn it, body. Grab it and bring it with us.”

   Bendy slowly approached the corpse and poked at its head. The weathered face and stringy white hair of the old man barely moved. He looked so pale and shriveled. Bendy shivered, feeling sick to his stomach. “J-Joey, I–”

   Joey clicked his cane against the ground warningly. “What is it?” he asked, his voice on edge.

   The toon swallowed. “This is tha ingredient?” he asked meekly, looking up at the man who towered above him at the end of the hall, doing his best to not think of the guy suddenly moving, jumping, attacki— _stopstopstopstopstop._

   “Yes, grab it and come on!”

   Jumping at the raise in his voice, Bendy scrambled to the body and suddenly had it by the armpits. He froze, realizing just how close to the corpse he was. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he began pulling it towards Joey before he could frustrate his creator any more. Joey hated working nights, he was on edge, it was better to not agitate him, but Bendy couldn’t help but silently question what was going on inside his own mind. _Why are we working with a_ **_body!?_ **

   It felt like forever, dragging the body to the ink machine room with his eyes closed. Bendy felt hyper aware of the cold body, the way his ragged clothes felt through the gloves, and the sound of Joey walking, his cane quietly clicking on the wood. The toon tried to think of some songs to distract himself from the body that he was touching, but his mind could only draw blanks in its silent scream of terror.

   “Ok, put it under the nozzle,” Joey announced and the demon’s eyes snapped open. He glanced around, seeing the ink machine and quickly pulled the body where Joey instructed before plastering himself against the furthest wall away from the body.

   “It’s not going to hurt you! Consarn it, Bendy, this is ridiculous. It’s just a stiff, a sack of meat.”

   “Joey, what are we goin’ ta do with it?” the toon whispered, slowly stepping away from the wall, but keeping Joey between him and the body. 

   “It’s going to provide a base for the ink to stabilize against. Now, go grab the first Butcher Gang reel.”

   With a nod the toon ran off, glad to be out of that room. He clenched and unclenched his hands, staring at them as he walked, a little amazed at how different he felt, but how the same he actually was. He had just touched a dead body... and came out unscathed. He sighed and stretched. _Safe. I am safe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Bendy is necrophobic, and the poor boy is dealing with Joey experimenting with dead things. Ah, this is _fun._ Also, I am running out of pre-made chapters and really need to sit down and do some nice productive uninterrupted work. I need some reader pressure, everyone. Seriously, comments will help, or I may need to go a hiatus for a bit.


	18. A Shell/Part 2: The Creation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey Drew uses his ingredient and... well... read to find out the results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'lls are ready for this.

   Bendy retrieved the reel and quickly returned. Joey had already fed several pictures through the machine and was getting it set up to create Charley. The toon handed him the reel, stealing small glances at the dead human. Running the reel through the machine was the more time consuming part, so Bendy slipped into a corner and sat down, keeping a close eye on the body. It didn’t move.

   Suddenly the ink machine was flipped to create and it began whirring and clanking, making the demon jump. Watery ink spewed from the nozzle as it had time and time again, before a thick blob splattered down, covering the dead body. The ink seemed to boil, something it hadn’t done before in the young toon’s knowledge. The blob of ink boiled and shrunk, slowly taking a smaller shape than the toon had expected, and then the pigment began fading from different spots until a being that looked like the end goal of this experiment lay there, still and silent.

   Joey began switching the machine back to ink production before it could spew out more thick ink and screw up whatever he had created.

   Charley's eyes snapped open and he bolted up into a sitting position, coughing and hacking up ink, sucking in air and coughing some more as his lungs must’ve burned at the sensation of life. Bendy couldn’t help but pity the new toon, having been through that experience himself. Hesitantly, he went over to the toon gang member and patted him on his back, pushing the image of the old man out of his own mind.

   The leprechaun suddenly stopped hacking and snapped his head towards Bendy, staring at him with blank pie cut eyes, causing Bendy to jump. Bendy swallowed, not sure what the toon was going to do to him.

   “Success!” Joey grinned, carefully kneeling down by the toon, which slowly looked at Joey. “My boy, you look, well...” Joey stopped, frowning. “Something’s off.”

   “What?”

   “Hey, Charley, where is your bite?”

   The toon stared blankly at Joey as if he hadn’t even heard the question.

   Bendy frowned to himself. When he had been made, he may have been confused, but he was rather reactive, scared of his surroundings, crying from overstimulation, and so on. “Maybe... he needs a moment?” Bendy offered.

   Joey grunted and stood back up. “Bring him to the examination room.”

   With a nod, the little demon turned to Charley and offered his hand, which the newly inked toon only stared at. After an uncomfortable moment, Bendy slowly grabbed his hand and pulled on him. Charley didn’t even make an attempt to stand. Huffing, Bendy got between him and the ink machine and forced the new toon to stand up. Once he was standing, Bendy pulled him along.

   Glancing back, Bendy could see that Charley was looking around at the posters and things that they passed, which the shorter toon decided must be a good sign.

. . .

   Bendy sat to the side, quietly, as Joey grumbled. “Teeth too real... Sketchy...”

   Bendy flinched as Joey hit the table. “React! Charley, you–” Joey stepped back taking a few deep breaths. “Calm down, this... This is an improvement. He's at least stable.” Joey glanced back at Bendy, wondering how he had succeeded so well with the demon in the first place.

   Joey lifted the new toon off the examination table with a grunt, setting him on the floor. “I'm too tired for this. Bendy, show him to a hammock.”

   Bendy watched Joey leave before he moved over to Charley. Looking him in the eyes, Bendy smiled, trying to be friendly. So far the toon that was supposed to be one of the bad guys had been fine and it would be best to be friends with the toon, seeing that they were both in the same situation. “Can ya understand me?”

   Charley slowly blinked, staring for a moment. Just as Bendy’s smile was beginning to wane, the new toon gave a small nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, I'm sorry to state that this fic will be placed on a temporary hiatus. I plan on restarting my weekly posts on August 26th, after I get back to college. I will try to prepare as many chapters as I can during my posting break. I will continue responding to comments and will greatly appreciate any theories and ideas sent in for they will provide me with inspiration.  
> Stick around and you can plan to see more in a month.


	19. Words Soft Spoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The darling devil has learned the best trick of babysitting... sitting your ward in front of cartoons so you can take a break. While on his break, he overhears someone talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert Mushu "I live" gif*  
> Heyo, heyo, I'm back! I have not gotten many ~~any~~ other chapters done during my haiatus, but classes have started back up again and hopefully not having to deal with family will give me more time to write!
> 
> Without any further ado, go on and enjoy the new chapter of Puddles.

   Boris did not like Charley. It was rather evident with his first initial reaction being one of fear, and the tension the taller toon gave off since then made Bendy uneasy.

   That first night, while setting up the new toon's hammock, Boris had awoken while Bendy was anchoring the first end into the wall. The wolf noticed two toons in the dimly lit room and fell out of his own hammock in surprise, which had scared the demon who fell off the chair he had been using, and then landed on the leprechaun who didn't do anything besides crumble to the ground. While Bendy checked Charley over, Bendy vaguely explained what happened, keeping out any details of the ingredient since he’d really rather never talk about having had to touch a corpse.

   Since then, the man-turned-wolf kept his distance from the newest toon and Bendy hated how much effort he had to put in to get the two to interact. Bendy could barely get the leprechaun to interact with anything at all without Boris acting like... like how people acted towards Bendy when they didn’t like that he was a demon in the cartoons. 

   Bendy set Charley up in the theater room the toons had claimed, putting on a butcher gang centric cartoon before slipping out. The new toon seemed to be getting better the more he watched himself, at least, that’s what Bendy hoped, and the demon needed some time away from constantly watching him.

   Figuring a short walk would do him good, Bendy began wandering, counting to himself to keep track of time. Then he heard a hushed voice coming from the examination room and got distracted from his counting. Who would be in the examination room with the door closed?

   Bendy softly placed the side of his head against the door.

   “I’ve been busy,” Joey’s voice came through the door. 

   There was a moment of silence, making Bendy furrow his brow in confusion.

   “I simply used a base for the ink to bind to. ... Just some meat, nothing big. It doesn’t matter. ... Not when we have so much to figure out with your situation.” Bendy eyes widened, realizing Joey must be talking to Boris. No wonder Joey was the only one talking.

   “Not well ... I’ve got her in a hospital, something much better than what you’d be able to get. ... I’m sorry about your mother, but I can’t allow you outside the studio.” Joey then added darkly, “Besides, she wouldn’t recognize you anyway.”

   Suddenly the door shoved open, sending Bendy stumbling as Boris marched off, not having noticed what happened.

   Bendy pushed himself off the wall, a little dizzy. Joey stepped out, crumpled papers in one hand and cane in the other. His gaze immediately fell on the toon. “Bendy, what are you doing here?”

   Bendy glanced over to where Boris disappeared off to. “I heard ya both talkin’ an-”

   “So, you were eavesdropping?”

   Bendy rubbed the back of his head. “Uh... I-I guess.”

   “It’s a bad habit,” Joey curtly stated.

   “Oh, sorry.”

   Joey flicked his wrist, his cane coming up and catching Bendy in the cheek, sending his head falling off.

   Bendy stumbled back, grabbing up his head to see in front of him. Joey was leaning in close, too close for the demon’s comfort. Joey dropped the papers and grabbed the toon by the tail. “Now, you won’t be doing that again, now won’t you?”

   Bendy nodded frantically, anything to get Joey to let go of his tail.

   Joey tossed the tail in his lap and stood straight. “Pick up those papers.”

   Bendy collected the crumbled papers and handed them to Joey Drew in a matter of seconds. Joey collected them and left without as much as a glance to the toon.

   Bendy sulked off, rubbing at his cheek that had swollen up.

   He made his way back to the theater to find Charley staring at the flickering screen, the cartoon reel flapping after running out of frames to play.

   Quietly Bendy grabbed the reel to swap it out with another one. As he turned from the shelf he came face to face with Charley. The demon jumped into the shelves, dropping reel and jostling a couple to fall around him.

   “Oh, thowwy, di’n’t-”

   Charley grabbed at his cheek and Bendy flinched. He went to shove Charley’s hand away.

   “Yowch,” a somewhat deep irish voice said, hollow and rough.

   Bendy froze. “Wh-what?”

   Charley patted it, causing Bendy to flinch a couple more times, before he went back to the seats and sat down.

   Bendy picked up the reel, keeping an eye on Charley as he set up the next cartoon. He sat next to the new toon and gently grabbed his hand. “Than’s... Ih’s goot ta heaw yer woice.”

   Charley merely glanced at the hand before staring at the wall again as the cartoon got underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charley spoke his first word! That is, if you can consider "Yowch" a word, that. Personally, I'm gonna count it! Benvo does.
> 
> I promise to try and get back to posting every Monday, but... Well, I may end up posting a different work in this series if I don't have a chapter for Puddles ready.


	20. Warming Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On one especially cold night, toons need to get closer to keep warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, an update! Hopefully this means more to come! Comments are appreciated, no matter how small or large they may be. They'll let me know ya'll are still reading by this point.

   Bendy awoke in the middle of the night, shivering violently. It was freezing! Slowly he opened his eyes to look around. The room felt absolutely frigid, both in temperature and lack of movement. 

   Slowly, Bendy got out of his hammock, keeping his blanket tightly around himself. He made his way over to Boris’s hammock to find that the wolf wasn’t there. _ Where could he be at this time of night, especially when it’s this cold? _

   He shivered some more, eyes darting around. Holding his blanket a little tighter, he went to the other hammock in the room, Charley’s hammock.

   Bendy tugged on Charley’s sleeve, trying to wake the toon, but he wouldn’t budge. “Ch-Charley,” Bendy mustered through chattering teeth.

   Charley’s eyes stiffly slid open, his body giving a couple spasms. Bendy felt his arm. “G-g-golly, y-yer colda th-than me. H-here.” Slowly, Bendy removed his blanket and placed it on top of Charley, whose eyes had slid back closed. 

   Bendy went into Charley’s drawer and pulled out one of the leprechaun's tailcoats to throw on to spare some of him from the biting cold. The coat was a bit large on him, the sleeves too long and the tails barely dragging on the ground. He noticed his tail was sticking out between the split in the back and tried to pull it closer to himself, but it refused to move. With a shudder, Bendy shook Charley again.

   Charley woke a tad bit faster this time, and gave a weak grunt. The leprechaun still didn’t talk nearly at all, but he was making sounds.  

   “C-can I c-come up?” Bendy asked.

   Charley’s head moved in what seemed to be a nod and Bendy warily climbed in, careful to keep from dumping the both of them. Pulling the blankets around himself as well, Bendy cuddled into the other toon despite his ink being colder.

_    If I’m suffering as this cold, he must be feeling even worse, _ Bendy told himself to keep from pulling away.

. . .

   Just as Bendy was about to fall back to sleep, the door opened. Bendy glanced back to see Boris, carrying a lit candle and shivering violently, a blanket was tied around his neck. He turned the light on and closed the door.

   “B-B-B-Boris!” Bendy cried out, relieved.

   Boris looked up at the sound, confused as to why it was coming from the wrong corner but accepted it just as quickly. He set down the candle easily, careful not to knock it over and reached into his own clothes drawer. He grabbed one of his overalls and shoved it against the crack at the bottom of the door.

   “C-come on, l-let’sss help,” Bendy stuttered, giving the leprechaun a shake.

   Bendy slipped out of the blankets and the hammock and went to join Boris,who was pulling more candles out of his pockets and setting them up in used soup cans. Charley slowly followed, holding the two blankets around him.

   Boris pulled out a lighter and began lighting the candles.

   “Wh-what’s going on?” Bendy asked. “C-can we h-help?”

   Boris’s eyes furrowed before holding up his trembling hand and shaking his head. Bendy didn’t know what the wolf was trying to say, and didn’t have the energy to try and figure it out.

   “Um... Wh-when yer done, Ch-Charley and me c-can h-help warm ya.” Boris gave a nod and began moving the candles to a corner. He motioned for the two shorter toons to follow and Bendy grabbed a couple candles as well. He could feel the heat coming off of their flames and sighed in relief. Boris pointed to the corner after setting the candles on the floor. Bendy set his near the others and directed Charley around the candles, being sure not to have his blankets catch on fire. Once they were to the corner, he got the toon to sit down and cuddled into him, pulling the blankets around himself again.

   Boris joined them once the candles were surrounding them, pushing warmth little by little into the air. He pulled his own blanket around himself, still shivering. With a small tug, Bendy was able to get Charley to come with him and they both cuddled up to the thin wolf.

   Boris stared at Charley for a moment before putting his arms around both the smaller toons, the small fires and the collective shivering starting to do something.

. . .

   Bendy woke to the door creaking open. It was still cold, but not as unbearingly so as it had been. Over half of the candles had drowned themselves in wax, and the remaining few were threatening to do so. Boris and Charley seemed to have fallen asleep as well and weren’t up still. Bendy looked up to see that a human stood in the doorway but it wasn’t until he noticed the cane that he recognized it as Joey Drew. 

   “Joey,” he smiled.

   The man released a breath he had been holding. “Are you three alright?”

   Bendy glanced at the others and gave them each a shake. Boris woke with a start, and Charley blinked blearily awake. 

   “Y-yeah, I think s-so,” Bendy concluded. He slowly got out of the toon pile and hugged himself to Joey, who was so much warmer than the other inky bodies. He sighed in relief, burying his head in Joey’s side the best he could. 

   “I’m sorry darling,” he whispered softly, rubbing the area between Bendy’s horns. “The heater must’ve broke.”

   Boris nodded, finally forcing himself to get out of the blanket cocoon he made. Charley stole Boris’s extra blanket and pulled it over himself.

   “I’m going to get Tommy on it immediately. Go help yourselves to some coffee in the break room. And, Bendy, get some ink to fix your tail.”

   Bendy glanced back to find his tail was gone. He jumped in surprise. Gingerly feeling what was left of the nub, he nodded. “O-Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Joey worries about his toons' health. ~~At least he does that much.~~ It's not the most productive of chapters, but we now know that toons can freeze (and I was eluding to the fact that Bendy's tail broke off because it froze) and Boris actually allowed Charley to cuddle up to him! Plus,this may be setting up some secret background to... a future chapter... Maybe I'm providing too much here. Oh well, I'm the author, I do what I want in the notes!  
> . . .  
> Ok, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things on this work. I am still dealing with crap but I'm at least meeting with my therapist again so hopefully I can keep providing you amazing readers with content. Feel free to send me theories and guesses. Who knows, you may inspire me to add something to the plot of this story. Yes, there is a plot. These are leading to something. That something being what makes this turn into the BATIM game, practically. I'm looking forward to how ya'll handle what's going to happen, the secrets that will be learned, and so on. This work will not be abandoned because I have a lot of stuff built up for this universe the story is set in and I want ya'll to enjoy everything that is going to become of this series.


	21. Language Enhancements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy practices some memory tasks with Charley, and someone says some colorful things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it, I made a chapter today, but... Boy was this chapter a struggle for me. Writers block is trying to drown me. But, me thinks it underestimated my treading skills.

   Charley sat at a drawing desk, Bendy across from him. The little demon shuffled some papers before grabbing the top one and holding it up.

   "Ok, Charley, who is this?"

   Charley's head lolled a bit as he stared at the professional art of the toon spider. Slowly he uttered, "Edgar."

   Bendy nodded. "Yes. And, now, who is this?" Bendy picked up the next picture.

   "... You."

   Bendy grinned. "And what's my name?"

   "Ben...dy."

   "Good job! Yer doin' great buddy! Let's move on ta questions. What's yer name?"

   "Charley."

   “Good. You and Barley and Edgar make up a group. Do ya remember what it’s called?”

   “Butcher gang.”

   "And what are we?"

   "Toons. Cartoons."

   "Toons. Cartoons are the videos we are in, but we are just toons."

   Charley stared at Bendy, seeming to stare beyond him more than anything.

   Bendy twiddled his thumbs, thinking about what else he could go over with Charley. The new toon was getting really good at recollection and hadn’t gotten anything wrong or ignored any question for the last 20 minutes. _Maybe I can get him to actually converse?_

   “Ok, let’s work on you a little, Charley. Have you figured out what your favorite food is?”

   Charley blinked. A few minutes passed as Bendy waited, his tail swishing slowly back and forth, speeding up a little every time the other toon took a breath that seemed to be deeper, just to slow back down once he realized that he wasn’t answering. Just as Bendy was about to give up and try another question, a commotion from down the hall reached his hearing, seeming to be getting louder.

   "Joey Drew tha a'solute wallaper! Puddin' these jobby pipes e'rywhere! I swear his heid's full o' mince! That bassa can kiss my arse if he thinks I’ll be werkin’ elsewhere! I’m a g’damned toymaker! He can get it right up ‘imself if he thinks I’m gonna do Thomas’s job ‘cause o’ his jobby pipes! I'm sick an' fockin' tired of ink floodin' th'damned studio e'ry foc-" The rant cut off into deadly silence when Shawn Flynn froze at the entrance of the room Bendy and Charley were in. 

   Bendy stared at the human wide eyed while Charley seemed to focus on something just beyond him.

   "Oh, uh, y-ya toons heard all that, didja?"

   Bendy nodded. Shawn rubbed the back of his neck, smearing ink onto it. “Uh, maybe just forget all of... that. That would be right fine.”

   Bendy slowly nodded again, not entirely sure what was going on, but realizing how seriously Shawn was treating this.

   “Good,” Shawn sighed. “Look, tha pipes burst in tha toy department, again, and tha place is quickly fluddin’. It’s probably best if ya get out of here with me.”

   Bendy nodded, getting out of his chair and tugging Charley out of his.

   In an awkward silence they all made it over to the elevator and headed up to Joey’s office. Before Shawn went to step in he muttered, “Seriously, sorry for ‘earin’ all that stuff I said. Just was a bit pissed. Don’t repeat any of it to anyone.”

   “I-I won’t,” Bendy agreed, his mind still going over what the scotsman had yelled. _So many words I’ve never heard before, what could they all mean?_

   The scotsman’s yelling broke him out of his thoughts. "That pipe is always breakin'! As if the ink is dead set on destroyin' my work area!"

   There was a moment of silence before Joey’s voice came through the door. "Find Tommy and bring him here. I've got an idea."

   "Yessir."

   Shawn came out and trudged off down the hall, not paying the toons any mind.

   “Hmm... The ink is supposed to be going down in that area anyway... What if we just let it flood back into the pipes?” Joey mused.

   Bendy rubbed his cheek, a memory of pain flashed in his mind. He grabbed Charley’s wrist and led the toon down the hall towards the stairs. “Come on, it’s lunch time.”

   Charley grunted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get back to chapters that have more meat to them, but the next major incident is being a donkey to work with, sadly. Hopefully I figure something out soon.


	22. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Hiatus. Life is hectic. Read chapter for details.

   I'm sorry for not posting this yesterday. Yesterday was crazy. My grandpa's funeral is next weekend, I'm trying to land a job at petsmart, and mental health has been low. On top of all this, I got in a car crash last Sunday and am pretty sure I totaled my car. Yesterday was spent dealing with the immediate aftermath of that. I promise this fic will not be abandoned, but I will at least be MIA for 2 weeks. I will try to make more chapters during this break and plan to start posting again November 4th. I hope the universe takes some pity on me so that I can uphold this schedule without stress.

Update 11/27/2019: My stress hasn't gotten much better and I'm dealing with some pretty bad writer's block. This has not been abandoned! Once I figure out how to write the next chapter, I should get back into the flow of writing easily enough. Thanks for sticking with this fic so far. I promise to bring more content! Just give me some time to work my life out a little and figure out how to make the next chapter worthy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this far! If you have questions, comments, or just want to tell me things but feel they may not be appropriate here or would rather them be more private or anonymous, feel free to message or ask me things at my tumblr! Would you like to receive promos and or random headcanons as well as just general fan stuff from the stuff I am into? Follow my tumblr! My tumblr, where fans can further interact with me. http://metasactreon.tumblr.com
> 
> Comments show me that you believe! That you believe this work is enriching your life little by little! That you believe this story can be great! That you believe in my abilities to deliver on that greatness! You want more? Then show me that you **believe.**


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